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Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress. After finalizing the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at the National Archives in Washington DC. Having served its original purpose in announcing the independence of the United States, the text of the Declaration initially attracted little attention after the American Revolution. Its stature grew over the years, particularly the second sentence, a sweeping statement of human rights: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. These words—called by historian Joseph Ellis "the most potent and consequential words in American history" —came to represent an ideal for which the nation should strive, notably through the influence of Abraham Lincoln, who popularized the now-standard view that the Declaration's preamble is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted. The Declaration of Independence is currently on display in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives building. List of Signers President of Congress 1. John Hancock (Massachusetts) New Hampshire 2. Josiah Bartlett 3. William Whipple 4. Matthew Thornton Massachusetts 5. Samuel Adams 6. John Adams 7. Robert Treat Paine 8. Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island 9. Stephen Hopkins 10. William Ellery Connecticut 11. Roger Sherman 12. Samuel Huntington 13. William Williams 14. Oliver Wolcott New York 15. William Floyd 16. Philip Livingston 17. Francis Lewis 18. Lewis Morris New Jersey 19. Richard Stockton 20. John Witherspoon 21. Francis Hopkinson 22. John Hart 23. Abraham Clark Pennsylvania 24. Robert Morris 25. Benjamin Rush 26. Benjamin Franklin 27. John Morton 28. George Clymer 29. James Smith 30. George Taylor 31. James Wilson 32. George Ross Delaware 33. George Read 34. Caesar Rodney 35. Thomas McKean Maryland 36. Samuel Chase 37. William Paca 38. Thomas Stone 39. Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia 40. George Wythe 41. Richard Henry Lee 42. Thomas Jefferson 43. Benjamin Harrison 44. Thomas Nelson, Jr. 45. Francis Lightfoot Lee 46. Carter Braxton North Carolina 47. William Hooper 48. Joseph Hewes 49. John Penn South Carolina 50. Edward Rutledge 51. Thomas Heyward, Jr. 52. Thomas Lynch, Jr. 53. Arthur Middleton Georgia 54. Button Gwinnett 55. Lyman Hall 56. George Walton